Jury Finds Memory-Care Facility’s Cook Guilty of Raping Resident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 11, 2017

COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that a St. Tammany Parish jury found Jerry Kan, 59, a former cook at a memory-care facility in Mandeville, guilty Thursday (Aug. 10) of raping a woman who lived there. Kan is scheduled to be sentenced by District Judge William Burris Oct. 17 on the third-degree rape conviction.

“This is a victory for every dementia and Alzheimer’s patient and their families,” District Attorney Warren Montgomery said. “Those in a position of trust who prey on the vulnerable will be held accountable.”

Montgomery thanked Assistant District Attorneys William Macke and Jerry Smith, the Mandeville Police Department, particularly Detective Kevin Covert, and the jury for their dedication and hard work.

The jury rejected the defendant’s claim that he had consensual sex in August 2016 with the woman, then 78, who had been diagnosed with dementia and placed by her family in Beau Provence Memory Care Assisted Living. In a recorded statement, Kan admitted having sex with the resident after chatting with her in the dining room and escorting her to her room. Prosecutors argued that because of the woman’s condition, she was unable to give consent to sex, and the jury ultimately agreed. The jury deliberated about 90 minutes before returning a unanimous guilty verdict.